


The Way It Should Have Been

by LuckyLadybug



Category: Terror on the 40th Floor (TV movie)
Genre: Character Death Fix, Disasters, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-29
Updated: 2014-06-29
Packaged: 2018-02-06 17:09:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1865772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuckyLadybug/pseuds/LuckyLadybug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate idea for the 1974 TV movie Terror on the 40th Floor. What if Howard didn't die when he fell?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way It Should Have Been

**Author's Note:**

> The characters are not mine and the story is! I’ve had the 1970s disaster movie Terror on the 40th Floor kicking around here for a while, as it was on a double-bill with a movie I wanted with Wesley Lau. I watched Terror recently because of learning that Joseph Campanella is in it. It wasn’t that bad a film, really, but one thing seriously leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Joseph’s character was not a bad person; he just lacked confidence in his worth. The worst thing he did was to convince Ginger to let him look in his own confidential file. He would hardly win the Rat of the Year award! Why was he the only one of the main characters to die? That is unacceptable. Usually several people die in disaster films, so for the guy who started the fire and Joseph to be the only ones to get it, it feels like Joseph’s character was specifically being targeted. He certainly didn’t deserve it. This is what should have happened after his desperate attempt to get the door in the elevator shaft open to go find help.

The building had been burning for some time when Thelma Overland arrived. She got out of her car, her heart pounding as she ran towards the barrier keeping the people back. “Please!” she screamed. “I think my husband is up there!”

At first no one seemed to hear. Panic-stricken and determined, she squirmed through the barrier and ran for the fire chief.

“Stop her!” one firefighter yelled in alarm. He and his partner ran forward, calling to her. “Ma’am, you can’t come any closer!” They reached her in a moment, grabbing her arms.

“No, wait!” she cried. “My husband never came home from his office party tonight. I think he’s still up there!”

The firefighters stiffened in horror. “The security guard said no one was left in the building,” said one.

“Well, maybe he didn’t know,” Thelma retorted. “Please, try to find out if anyone is still in there!”

The firefighters looked at each other and nodded. They could not risk the chance that he or someone else might be trapped.

“If he is there, where do you think he would be?” the second one asked.

“His office is on the 40th floor,” Thelma said.

The first one let go of her and hurried ahead to speak with the fire chief.

****

The mood inside the office was grim. Ginger was still on the couch, bleeding to death from her frantic crash through a door. The women were tending to her, although Darlene was mostly keeping her distance.

Kelly was haunted, still blaming himself for Howard’s fatal fall. And Dan wasn’t feeling much better.

_I should have gone, like I said,_ he thought sadly to himself. But he really knew it wouldn’t have worked. If Howard had failed with the use of both hands, Dan never would have made it with only one good one.

Perhaps Howard’s death would serve some purpose for the rest of them; the firefighters might find his body and realize there were still people trapped up there. But Howard would still be dead. He had a family; now they would have to find out that he was never coming home.

And really, Dan knew, there was no guarantee that any of them would.

He sighed, becoming lost in thoughts of Thelma and Benji and how Benji’s death had driven a wedge between them. Was there any way it could be fixed? Even if they got out of this mess, could he and Thelma be reunited?

Part of him hoped for and wanted that. But his predominate thought was that there was no hope left.

Any hope had died with Howard Foster.

****

He groaned as consciousness returned; he was bruised and battered and bleeding all over. His eyes fluttered and opened. Where was he? It was incredible that he was still alive at all. He shouldn’t be. Hadn’t he fallen from the top of the building to the bottom, via the elevator shaft?

He pushed himself up, peering over the edge of the drop-off right next to him. He was still in the shaft; he had only fallen a couple of floors, judging from where it looked like the ceiling was. Somehow, miraculously, he had barely landed on the tiny ledge at the very edge of the shaft.

Shuddering, he pushed himself up and slumped against the wall. “How?” he mumbled. He should be dead. And why had he been given this chance to survive, after the many failures in his life?

He looked up again. No one was there; they probably all thought he was dead and that there was no hope for any of them now. But he was alive. Maybe he could get the fire door open on this level and try to get down from here. Maybe he could still bring help.

He was going to try. Struggling to stand, he gripped the wall with a bruised and bleeding hand as he felt around for the lever that would open the door. Terror rushed through him as he discovered it but the door remained stubbornly stuck, just like the one above. It had been trying to open the other door that had caused his near-fatal fall. What if he would have the same problem again and this time it would finish the job?

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He had to try.

Throwing his entire weight against the door, he finally wedged it open a crack, enough to get his hand through. Continuing to push, he at last had a space big enough for him to squeeze through all the way. He limped through the opening and kept going. Maybe he would make it.

Thoughts of Cathy danced through his mind again. _“You have to let us love you for what you are!”_ she had told him the last time they had seen each other.

But what was he? Very little. He always had been. Now he hadn’t even managed to get the promotion he had felt sure was his. Not qualified! Well, what would have qualified him? What made someone else more qualified for the job than he?

Why did he always fail at everything he set out to do? His family was on the rocks, he wasn’t good enough for the promotion, and he hadn’t been able to get that blasted door open to help the other people trapped here.

Even though he was alive, he was hurt, and he wasn’t sure how serious it was. The longer he walked, the dizzier he became. He had hoped that he wouldn’t fail this time, but there was very little guarantee of that.

No, he had to keep going. Even if he couldn’t make it out, he had to find help for the others. Maybe there were firefighters in the building and he could find and tell them.

Every flight of stairs felt like it would have to be the last. His body was protesting more with each flight, then each step. It was too much.

But he had to keep going. He had to.

He was operating mostly on pure instinct than thought by the time he opened the last door and collapsed practically at the feet of two shocked firefighters. “Help,” he rasped. “There’s people up there, six people, trapped on the top floor. One of them’s hurt bad.”

One firefighter knelt next to him, while the other frantically barked into his radio. “You’re hurt bad, Sir,” the first one exclaimed. “What happened to you?”

“Fell,” Howard mumbled. “That’s not important. Get the others out. Please, get them out.” His eyes fluttered and closed. “I’m sorry, Cathy,” he slurred. “I’m sorry, Honey.”

****  
 ** _(Now things proceed much as the same as the movie, with the firefighters aware of the trapped people and being able to get all of them out. We catch up as they arrive down below.)_**  


Kelly was still in a daze as they stepped off the rescue copter and onto solid ground. He was haunted and sick inside. Even though he was thankful that the others had been rescued, he had a heavy heart.

 _Why was I so afraid?_ he said sadly to himself. _Why did I try to blackmail Howard into being the one to go? He didn’t want to go any more than I did. We both knew someone had to, but it was going to be me. It should have been me. Why did I do it? **Why?**_

Of course, he knew the answer. He hadn’t wanted to die. None of them had, but he had let his fears manipulate him into doing something irreparable.

At his side, Dan looked haunted too. He had wanted to do something to get everyone out of there instead of just curling up and waiting for death, but if they had just sat tight and waited, help would have come. The firefighters had realized there were people inside so shortly after Howard’s death, probably because Thelma had arrived and told about Dan.

But at least Dan had the knowledge that he had been trying to do the right thing. Kelly had no such knowledge. He had been a coward, using the fact of Howard reading a confidential letter about himself to manipulate Howard into going. Howard hadn’t wanted Kelly to tell Dan about him getting into the confidential files, even just to look at that one letter.

And so Kelly had sent him to his death with that threat.

There was Thelma, waiting for Dan by the barrier. And Dan was going to her. Maybe they would have some chance of repairing their marriage.

Kelly wouldn’t be able to repair the damage he had caused.

In a daze, he walked to the nearest paramedic. “Excuse me,” he said. “Did you find a body in the elevator shaft?” That was the only thing he could do for Howard now—make sure that his body was recovered.

The paramedic blinked in surprise and then understanding. “Oh! You mean the guy who fell? He wasn’t in the shaft.”

Kelly stared. “Then where was he?!”

“Funniest thing,” the paramedic said. “He landed a couple of floors down on the ledge. And he struggled to get all the way to the bottom on the fire stairs. He told us you people were trapped there. Mrs. Overland thought her husband might be there, but she wasn’t sure, and she didn’t know about the others or that someone was hurt. Your friend got that information to us before he collapsed.”

Kelly was reeling. “Where is he now?” he demanded. “He can’t be alive.”

“He’s alive,” the paramedic assured him. “He’s been taken to the hospital.”

Kelly nearly fainted. It couldn’t be. It was too good to be true. “How bad off is he?” he asked, still feeling like he was in a dream.

“Honestly, I think he’ll pull through,” the paramedic said. “We need to take everyone to be checked. Maybe you can see him.”

Kelly stumbled back. “Yeah,” he said vaguely. “Maybe.”

Howard was alive! It was impossible, it was crazy, and how had he landed on that tiny ledge? A Christmas miracle? For him, for them? 

How would Kelly even say he was sorry? Sorry just wasn’t good enough. But it was all Kelly had.

****

When Howard opened his eyes next, Cathy was next to him, tears in her eyes as she held onto his hand. “Daddy,” she choked out. Relieved and joyous, she leaned in to embrace him.

Slowly, still a bit confused, he reached up to pull her close. “What happened?” he asked. “Cathy, Honey, why are you here?”

She pulled back. “When the hospital called, I couldn’t stay away,” she said. “Mom and I were watching the footage on the news, and we were so worried that maybe you were there, but we kept trying to hope you weren’t.” Tears started to fall. “I kept thinking how I ran out the last time I saw you and what if I’d never be able to talk to you again. Daddy, I’m so sorry!”

“It’s alright, Cathy. You were upset.” Memories started to trickle back. “Did the others get out of the building?” he demanded urgently.

“Yes, Dad, they all got out.” Cathy smiled. “And it was at least partially because of you.”

“Me?” Howard said in disbelief.

Cathy nodded. “No one knew for sure that anyone was trapped until you got out and told the firefighters. You’re a hero, Dad.”

“A hero?” Howard looked incredulous.

“Not everyone would have done it,” Cathy said. Her eyes lowered. “Your friend from work is here. He told me that he didn’t want to go and twisted your arm to make you go instead.”

Howard looked away. “My going was selfish. I didn’t want him to tell . . . something.”

“You would have gone anyway, even if he had refused without doing that to you,” Cathy insisted. “Dad, that’s what Mom and I have kept trying to tell you all along—that you’re so much better a person than you can even understand. You don’t need to have a promotion or take us on cruises or vacations in Europe. We both love you just as you are.”

Howard paused. He did remember that when he had struggled downstairs, his thoughts had mostly been of trying to get help for the others. And even before that, he had been honestly worried about getting everyone out. In spite of his fear, he had known that one of them would have to go for help. He had counseled Kelly to that effect.

“Is your mother here too?” he asked at last.

Cathy nodded. “She’s talking to the doctor in the hall. Should I get her?”

“Yeah.” Howard smiled. “Thanks, Honey.”

Cathy smiled too. “We’re going to have a Merry Christmas after all,” she said. “And with all of us together.”

She left to find her mother—his wife. But as soon as she had departed, another shadow fell across the door. “Howard?”

He looked up at the quavering voice. Kelly was standing there, looking a curious mixture of joyous, hesitant, and guilt-ridden.

“I thought you were dead,” Kelly rasped. “We all thought you were dead. And I knew . . .” He drew a shaking breath. “I knew it was my fault. I blackmailed you into going even though it was supposed to be me.”

“We were all scared, Kelly,” Howard said. “None of us wanted to go.”

“But you knew it had to be one of us. You told me that when I was petrified with fear. You would have gone even if I hadn’t done that to you.”

“That’s what my daughter just said,” Howard remarked.

“It’s true,” Kelly nodded. “I’m sorry you won’t get the promotion. But I’m sure you’re needed right where you are. You didn’t fall apart under pressure like I did. You’re levelheaded and valuable.”

“I was going to tell him that,” Dan said, appearing in the doorway. “Howard, welcome back.” He smiled.

“Thanks,” Howard said. “Both of you.”

Dan glanced over his shoulder. “We’ll leave you with your family now,” he said. “And I know it’s not adequate for what you did, but thank you. I’m sorry as well.”

“You don’t need to be,” Howard said.

“Well, anyway . . .” Dan paused. “Merry Christmas.”

Howard nodded. “Merry Christmas.”

It still stung a bit, that he wouldn’t get the promotion he had longed for. But as his wife and daughter came into the room and they had a long-overdue reunion, the blow was certainly softened.

Perhaps they would be able to repair their family yet. That would be better than any promotion.


End file.
